At some point in your life, you will need to create an estate plan. Estate planning occurs when an individual thinks about and formally plans to whom their assets will transfer after they are deceased and the method of transfer. Your assets may include anything from real property (your house or land) to personal property (everything else, such as cars, personal items, money) to digital assets (passwords, etc.). Without an estate plan, your assets may not be received by the recipients you intend, in the amount you intend, or in the manner in which you intend them to transfer.

Certain documents such as wills and trusts are common ways for individuals to distribute their assets after death. Your will, formally known as your Last Will and Testament, will allow you to control who will receive your property when you die as well as name a guardian for any minor child over whom you have custody. A trust gives you the flexibility to control your assets while you are alive but also puts a plan in place for distribution upon incompetency (if you so choose) and/or upon your death. Both the will and the trust are important because, while similar, they both accomplish issues that the other cannot.  Your Will selects your Guardian as mentioned herein whereas your Trust can keep your family out of probate court if funded properly.

You can create and or update your estate plan from the comforts of your own home. If a question arises throughout the process, the attorneys at LMDS will be able to assist you via email, phone, and/or video conference. Furthermore, documents may be emailed or sent by mail. The only time, throughout the entirety of this process, that you will need to come into our office will be to notarize certain documents that may be part of your plan.

Many individuals put off the creation and finalization of their estate plans because they think the process will be worse than it really is. Due to the continuation of work-from-home jobs, this is the perfect time to execute those plans. The coronavirus pandemic has encouraged many people to entertain “what if” circumstances and those circumstances are not quite as far-fetched as they might have once seemed.  We can also help you execute Powers of Attorney, to allow others to make decisions for you and sign documents on your behalf, depending on your risk tolerance to leave your home during the pandemic.  Take advantage of the time you have at home to create or revamp your estate plan.

Call us to set up a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your legal questions!

Corky Hart is a Law Clerk at Lardiere McNair & Stonebrook, Ltd.  To read more about our firm, please visit lawyerscolumbusohio.com.